When I was asked to donate some pottery to our local food pantry for a benefit, I knew I wouldn't have the time to throw something for it, so I decided to use a restaurant ware porcelain bowl and do something with decals.
Of course I used my favorite images, the ones of octopuses.
I used an image from Karen at the Graphics Fairy along with an old etching of an octopus verrucosus.
First, I measured the bowl around at the rim and then a little lower, above the foot. I used these numbers to divide the bowl, and drew lines down with an erasable marker to guide the placement of the images. I did the same on the inside rim.
I printed the images out with my iron oxide printer, printing them onto waterslide paper.
I had a few images left over, so I also decorated a smaller porcelain bowl with them.
I put them both in the kiln on Monday night, fired them to cone 4, (over 2000 degrees F) and this morning unloaded them while they were still piping hot.
The larger bowl is pretty huge, about 6 inches tall and more than 11 inches wide at the rim. I am guessing it would hold more than a gallon of liquid.
The smaller bowl is what I consider cereal bowl sized, or a largish rice bowl, about 3 inches tall, and 6 inches wide.
Because the decals are fired into the glaze, both bowls will be dishwasher microwave safe.
I am thinking I will donate them both as a set, and hopefully they will get a good price at the charity auction.
Update: The person who coordinates the charity auction chose to auction off one of my older wheel thrown pieces instead of these. So this set will be going into my shop.
